Is there an advantage to ‘catheterless’ radical prostatectomy?
Some doctors who specialize in robotic surgery advocate performing a radical prostatectomy without leaving a urinary catheter in place after surgery. Instead, a small tube is inserted directly into the bladder and attached to a urine bag. A ‘catheterless’ open radical prostatectomy is equally feasible. However, at the Smilow Center, we have found that the small bladder catheter can become occluded with blood clots after a robotic radical prostatectomy , which can necessitate a visit to the emergency room for catheter irrigation. For this reason, Smilow Center surgeons do not offer catheterless open or robotic radical prostatectomy, as the risks far outweigh the benefits.
Related Questions
- Is biopsy Gleason score independently associated with biochemical progression following radical prostatectomy after adjusting for pathological Gleason score?
- What is the advantage or disadvantage of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy compared to open surgery?
- Does robotic assisted radical prostatectomy offer a minimally invasive advantage?
